Arrgh..Craigslist

AAirhart

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Donor 2011-2012
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Ever have a run of making an offer, getting the ok to pickup....then someone local offers slightly higher (or gives the seller a lecture on game values...and they think their broken game is now gold) and you lose the game? 3 in a row now...ugh, this is getting old.
 
They should use Shmee-Bay if they want to play the bidding game.
It's just common courtesy to stay true to your word. At least till a buyer gets to see the game. If they decide they didn't want to sell the game to you. A CL seller could just politely say your price is to low and move on to the next offer.
 
Ever have a run of making an offer, getting the ok to pickup....then someone local offers slightly higher (or gives the seller a lecture on game values...and they think their broken game is now gold) and you lose the game?

It sucks, but everything in demand on CL is now subject to a bidding war. Moral or not, nature of the beast. Combination of online bidding becoming the norm + eBay's listing and business costs getting ridiculous. CL is the catch-all.

I found a set of four Honda rims on CL, & had them brought to me. The minute the seller had them loaded in his truck, he told me he was getting counter offers, and was considering them. I knew he was undervaluing them, so I topped the would-be rug pullers by offering more money, explaining the market for his wheels to him, and selling the idea that I'd be easier to deliver to and deal with. He was at my place 30 min later.

If I didn't need them or want them very much, I would've told him to take the other offers. But, if it's an item I really want and the price is still around what I want to pay, the rug-pullers are gonna lose vs me. (They haven't won yet, anyhow.)
 
Usually when this happens, I just let it go... I don't have time for games, and I have no real way of knowing if the seller really has another offer or just decided to stick it to me for more money. Either way, I'm not playing that game. I went down that path once in my life and never again.

Side Story (if interested):

Went to look at a 1969 Roadrunner, the car was kind of beat up, but did have a 440 in it. I was very interested, test drove the car, etc. Made the seller an offer he agreed, we shook hands. While I was there, another would be buyer showed up. I explained that the car was "sold" but they made an offer anyway. Which started a bidding war, right on the guys lawn for the car I had already made a deal on. I "won" the "bidding" for the car, but now I did not have enough money on me to pay what I had bid. I had to run to the bank to get the difference. I literally gave him the cash I had and drove to the bank 10 minutes away to get the difference. When I arrived back, "my car" was gone. He sold it to the other buyers who while I was gone upped the bid and had cash in hand. I now had cash in hand and called the police on the guy. He did give me my money back and I was told that the best I could try to do is sue him for breach of contract but the cops gave me that MEH look like, good luck. So, with that I took my money and went home, with out the car. After that day, I said never again. I still live by that policy and it has served me well.
 
Usually when this happens, I just let it go... I don't have time for games, and I have no real way of knowing if the seller really has another offer or just decided to stick it to me for more money. Either way, I'm not playing that game. I went down that path once in my life and never again.

Side Story (if interested):

Went to look at a 1969 Roadrunner, the car was kind of beat up, but did have a 440 in it. I was very interested, test drove the car, etc. Made the seller an offer he agreed, we shook hands. While I was there, another would be buyer showed up. I explained that the car was "sold" but they made an offer anyway. Which started a bidding war, right on the guys lawn for the car I had already made a deal on. I "won" the "bidding" for the car, but now I did not have enough money on me to pay what I had bid. I had to run to the bank to get the difference. I literally gave him the cash I had and drove to the bank 10 minutes away to get the difference. When I arrived back, "my car" was gone. He sold it to the other buyers who while I was gone upped the bid and had cash in hand. I now had cash in hand and called the police on the guy. He did give me my money back and I was told that the best I could try to do is sue him for breach of contract but the cops gave me that MEH look like, good luck. So, with that I took my money and went home, with out the car. After that day, I said never again. I still live by that policy and it has served me well.

I was interested and thank you for sharing that with us.
 
As a business man (i'm a licensed electrical contractor), i've learned over the years you just have to be willing to walk away from any deal/work.
Most jobs for homeowners where they told me they had lower prices, i've just said politely "wow, great price, you should take it". 90% of which call me to do the work anyway, go figure..

For purchasing, it's like a car dealer. Just let them know, after you look at theirs (whatever item it may be, applies to all) that you are going to see another, so they realize when you leave, if they want the cash you may never be back.
 
Usually when this happens, I just let it go... I don't have time for games,

Agreed. Make a deal, close it fast and if the seller says last minute they have other offers, I tell them "That fine, there's other games I've been looking at too, so if we no longer have a deal, I'll make a few calls."

This isn't a bullshit tactic either. In general when I've had money for a game I seldom see less than 3 that interest me and we either have a deal or we don't. If we don't (or they get flakey), I'll move on.
 
You never want to give your money to anyone who even considers renegotiating after a handshake. You're dealing with a child, not a man. A man who can sell the value of his handshake for the next bid is no man at all.
 
You never want to give your money to anyone who even considers renegotiating after a handshake. You're dealing with a child, not a man. A man who can sell the value of his handshake for the next bid is no man at all.

I could not agree more.... It was a hard but valuable lesson.
 
We had a guy come in to work one day looking for a job (assembly). He filled out the application and waited for about 5 min. and asked if it was going to be much longer. One of the shift managers asked him if he had some other pressing time constraints. His reply was quite simple, "I have a job to find and I can be filling out other job applications." He was told to report for work the next day.

Sometimes you have to be able to just walk away from a deal. I have learned to not deal with people with "lying" in their name i.e. lying tom, lying jim. Yes, we do call them that to their face and on purpose.
 
For Craigslist deals, I focus on getting there as quickly as possible THEN negotiating, I never negotiate over the phone prior to seeing the machine in person. That way you avoid a lot of BS that comes from counter offers, higher offers, etc. The majority of sellers just want to get paid and be rid of whatever they're selling, if you're there with cash and a truck, it's almost a lock on making a deal.

There will be some dry runs, but then again, I'm not going cross country to look at a $300 dollar JAMMA conversion, it has to be a decent deal to begin with.
 
It sucks, but everything in demand on CL is now subject to a bidding war. Moral or not, nature of the beast. Combination of online bidding becoming the norm + eBay's listing and business costs getting ridiculous. CL is the catch-all.

The big problem with craigslist as well is that it doesn't have a rep system or anything like that. There isn't really anything one can do to flag someone as a bad trader to show others how they try to act dishonest. That combined with lowlifes in general makes it hard to deal with at times. Same can be said for those who say they will buy something and back out(as in no shows).

Now for the person with the car story, I would have sued the guy just to be a dick. Tried to erase the extra profit he got selling it behind me after a deal was reached.

I will say for the most part I've been lucky. I haven't done that much on craigslist but most of my encounters so far have gone pretty much without a hitch. Same can be said for many of my online sales.

I will say it can suck to get a better offer after one agrees to a deal but it happens. I ended up selling a gun on a gun trading forum to someone for around 100 bucks less then I wanted because it had been listed a while and I really didn't like the pistol and wanted to get rid of it. Before we meet someone offered the full amount. I had made a deal though and went through with it. I mean in reality the worst that could have been done is they could have given me a bad rep and maybe had me banned from the forum which is easy to get past. That wasn't the point though. I agreed to sell it to the first seller at the agreed price once he got a chance to look at it and I could see his chp(concealed handgun premit). I was raised better then some though.
 
Yeah, if somebody pulled the "I'm getting other offers, give me more" bit, I'd say forget it. Honestly, I'd say there's probably a decent chance that they aren't getting any other offers at all and are just trying to get an extra $50 out of you at the last minute for no real reason. I wouldn't want to play that game.
 
I don't play the game either....got screwed on a Galaga...told the guy I wanted it...consider sold...but I lived out of town...had to come on weekend. He said fine...called him two days later and he said...sorry sold it to someone else. Fine...whatever ...but the kicker is that a week layer the same add appeared on cl so I asked again if it was for sale..and yup..it was! So I am guessing the buyer offered more...then backed out...I said I was still interested...and he never contacted me again. Found out another klover was talking to the same guy...and he did same thing...said he would sell...then never contacted again...
 
I will almost never make an offer before I see something. I've driven out to look at something, told he has a better offer so I walk. I've been called back most times because they got flaked on or never even had a better offer. I just sold my Street Fighter pinball, I had a pile of lowball offers. The one guy that didn't try to negotiate before seeing it was the one who purchased it. I feel if you make an offer before seeing something then you'll most always try to get it lower once you see it.
 
4 in a row! 4pm..still have it, come get it, ok I can be there in the morning. Sure, see you then. 10:45pm... sorry sold for more $$. WTF?!! At least give me a chance to counter offer.
 
sorry sold for more $$. WTF?!! At least give me a chance to counter offer.

I think many people are more comfortable telling a would-be buyer that they sold it for more $$ than offering an impromptu bidding war to them. Either way, it sucks.
 
For Craigslist deals, I focus on getting there as quickly as possible THEN negotiating, I never negotiate over the phone prior to seeing the machine in person.
There will be some dry runs, but then again, I'm not going cross country to look at a $300 dollar JAMMA conversion, it has to be a decent deal to begin with.

I think it's fair to make a 'conditional offer' on the phone or something pending inspection, that way the seller knows you're not out to waste their time. Also if you're going to be WAY off their asking price they simply might not be interested, so I think it's fair to set a base line expectation.

The big problem with craigslist as well is that it doesn't have a rep system or anything like that. There isn't really anything one can do to flag someone as a bad trader to show others how they try to act dishonest.

Yup, that's why it has to be a quick transaction, cash in hand. This works well for arcade machines though because you can inspect it before making a commitment to buy.

So I am guessing the buyer offered more...then backed out...I said I was still interested...and he never contacted me again. Found out another klover was talking to the same guy...and he did same thing...said he would sell...then never contacted again...

This issue isn't specific to Craigslist though. I've had a few KLov'ers pull this on me too and my general thought is if you don't respond then you mustn't want the sale so I'm not going to chase you, someone else will take my money.
 
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